Fields and Juaire: Independent Together

Lunar Phases by Patti Fields and Ray Juaire, mixed media, 2020. [Photo Courtesy of the Artists]

Single isn’t always better—or is it? Viewers can make that decision when they view Heights Arts’ newest exhibition, Independent Together: 30 Years of Collaboration, featuring Ray Juaire, senior exhibitions manager at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, and his longtime collaborator Patti Fields, head of visual art at the Ratner Montessori School. Fields and Juaire began their personal and professional relationship 30 years ago, while students at the Cleveland Institute of Art.

Fields is known primarily for her jewelry designs, and she brings a jeweler’s detail-oriented aesthetic to her larger pieces in Independent Together. Juaire brings his expertise in sculpting and painting.

The exhibition aims to explore and symbolize the duo’s personal and professional lives, both independent and collaborative. The show taps memories from their long-shared history, and marks the first time these artists will exhibit solo works alongside one another. The combination generates a push-and-pull physicality between the figurative and the literal, which creates an intriguing narrative.

Juaire and Fields have a long history of separately showing works of art as individual artists, as well as jointly exhibiting pieces created during joint collaborations. Their work is included in the public collections of The Progressive Corporation, MetroHealth Cleveland, and Case Western Reserve University, among others.

Independent Together: 30 Years of Collaboration will be on display through Oct. 11.

Running concurrently, in Heights Art's Spotlight Gallery, is an exhibition of work by artist Joseph Van Kerkhove. A Toledo native, Van Kerkhove is the director of the Diane Kidd Gallery and assistant professor of art at Tiffin University. His exhibition showcases his prints and print-making techniques, representing his personal experiences. He is also the founder of the EVAC Project, Experiencing Veterans & Artists Collaboration, which has exhibited at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va.; Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.; and the Rutherford B. Hayes Library and Museum in Fremont, Ohio. 

For more information, or to reserve a time to visit the Heights Arts gallery, at 2175 Lee Road, call 216-371-2457 or visit www.heightsarts.org.

Amanda Bohn

Amanda Bohn handles marketing and communications at Heights Arts.

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Volume 13, Issue 9, Posted 8:14 AM, 09.01.2020